NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: Another odd development in the the Jammie Thomas-Rassett case. You may recall that after the Judge reduced the RIAA's verdict from $1.92 million to $54,000 on the ground that $54,000 was the maximum amount that a jury could reasonably award, the RIAA opted for a third trial instead of allowing judgment to be entered. Its reasoning in making that call has never been clear, since there seemed little point in spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a trial which would could produce no more than a judgmentfor $54,000 or less. Apparently the Court thinks taxpayers' money could be better spent, and has appointed a 'Special Master' to bring about 'meaningful settlement discussions', with the Master's $400-per-hour fee to be paid by the RIAA. One commentator suggests the RIAA should at this juncture 'just say 'Thanks Jammie, we've had all we can get out of you and caused you enough grief — pay us $1 and we'll forget about it', and actually doing that would be a lot less costly and more reasonable that what they appear to have in mind.